1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to cement packaging and more specifically to methods of storing and mixing temporarily deactivated concrete with a chemical cement activator stored in a separate but attached storage medium.
2. Description of Related Art
Conventional concrete package mix products are sold as dry mixes. The primary ingredients of these mixes are cement, stone, and sand, which are dried prior to their insertion into a bag. For economic reasons the product is most always inserted into a paper bag, and at times a paper bag with a plastic liner. The product is then poured into a mixing device (wheelbarrow), water added, mixed, and then applied. Dry concrete package products most always are dusty, both in the store and out, and require the user to add their own water in order to mix the concrete, and require certain tools to mix.
Packaged building materials have historically been composed of paper or a combination of paper and plastic. Usage of paper in packaged building materials comprised nearly 90% of the total field by trends found in the European theater to focus on source reduction as a means of controlling waste, and advancements in the flexible plastic packaging industry have opened up otherwise closed markets to plastic-based materials.
Concrete or cement related products are typically packaged into either paper, cardboard or rigid plastic containers. The choice of paper has primarily been due to cost and the production and storage concerns. Traditional packaging methodology involves the use of valve pack paper bagging system. that blows concrete/cement related products into a paper bag.
Traditional concrete mix or cement related-package products require a moisture-free environment both during production, transportation, and storage, while certain rigid plastic containers afford some degree of moisture protection of the storage, the most prevalent being paper. Industry standards for paper bags are a three-layer construction consisting of three layers of paper and a thin moisture barrier. Holes located throughout the bags allow for pressure relief.
Flexible plastic mediums have been averted from package production of concrete/cement related items due to the inability of plastic to withstand high packaging temperatures, lack of field related polymer laminate technology and the high cost associated with such.
The concrete product is based on the concept of taking a ready-mixed concrete, the type of concrete that would come from a concrete mixer, deactivate it temporarily, and then, through the introduction of a chemical activator or some other carrier, activate it, so that it can be used just like freshly batched concrete.
Traditional, dry, powder cement must be mixed with water in a mixing device. Typically, this might be a wheelbarrow. Unused cement hardens in the wheelbarrow and ruins the wheelbarrow for other uses.
The concept of stabilizing concrete or deactivating it has been utilized in the concrete industry and the additives that have been created to do this have been patented. The same applies for the activator chemical.
Wet-Mixed Portland Cement Based Packaged Products are Portland cement based construction materials mixed in the same manner as ready mixed concrete. These mixtures incorporate a specified dosage of a hydration-stabilizing admixture to halt the water/cement chemical reaction. These mixtures are produced at a slump of 0 to 2 inches and are packaged in a flexible medium for distribution and sales. Standard cement is sold in bulk and transferred in a transit mixer. These mixers are impractical for small jobs or jobs where the large container cannot be taken directly to the site such as the basement of an already-built house.
There have been attempts in the industry to provide a storage medium comprising an attached compartment to house a product wherein the product requires separation from another product stored within the storage medium.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,860,219 issued to Nickerson, Jr. discloses a process for mixing cement and liquid wherein the bag is converted from a medium for storing the cement, into a mixing medium. Nickerson, however, fails to teach a package having two compartments, removably attached to each other, wherein each compartment houses components, separated during transport, to be mixed within one of the existing compartments.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,330,091, issued to Quin, discloses a disposable box for on-site mixing of dry cement. The box does not contain all of the ingredients and the product cannot be shipped therein.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,804,265, issued to Saad et al, discloses a bag within a bag that helps to prevent freezer burn of stored meat. Saad, however, does not contemplate storing materials between the bags, and the patent goes so far as suggesting that the outside bag should contain a hole.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,511,665, issued to Dressel et al., discloses a child-resistant package made with two layers to form an inner pocket. Dressel does not contemplate containing materials between the two layers.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,671,413, issued to Peterson, discloses pre-measured dry mix cement enclosed by a water soluble material having a water reservoir. Peterson discloses a form that contains dry cement and aids in the measurement of water to form the proper mixture. The invention is not usable at cites lacking water. Further, the invention does not disclose separating the ingredients--in fact the separator or "casing" used is dissolvable.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,657,133, issued to Komatsu et al. and U.S. Pat. No. 4,579,223, issued to Otsuka et al., disclose packages that selectively allow ambient air into the packages.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,366,233, issued to Roediger, discloses a packaging for asphalt. The package discloses two layers but does not suggest storing anything between the layers.
Finally, U.S. Pat. No. 2,682,465, issued to Witala, et al., discloses a method of storing a bag within a bag having other contents. However, the inner bag is permeable.
Accordingly, what is needed in the art is a packaging apparatus which can be conveniently carried and which separately houses wet-mixed concrete and a chemical cement activator and provides a method to mix the concrete with the chemical activator in a flexible and sealable medium wherein the flexible medium is also used to store the concrete thereby eliminating the need for a separate mixing medium.
It is, therefore, to the effective resolution of the aforementioned problems and shortcomings of the prior art that the present invention is directed.